Eduardo González
Apart from the dual nationality agreement and the coincidences and discrepancies between the two countries on COVID-19 vaccinations, the XXVI Spanish-French summit last Monday concluded with a declaration on cross-border cooperation reminiscent, in the absence of details, of the strategy agreed at the end of 2020 with our other major bordering country, Portugal.
During the bilateral telematic meeting held on Monday between Arancha González Laya and Jean-Yves Le Drian in the framework of the Montauban summit (southwest of France), the Foreign Ministers of both countries expressed their willingness to negotiate a Franco-Spanish bilateral cooperation treaty and to “strengthen cross-border cooperation between the two countries”, as reported yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
These two issues, which did not have as much repercussion as other issues addressed at the summit – in fact, they do not appear in the press release issued by Moncloa and were only mentioned without further details by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, during the joint press conference with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez -, appear in the last paragraphs of the final declaration of the bilateral summit.
“Because of its concrete dimension for many of our fellow citizens, cross-border cooperation constitutes one of the foundations of our bilateral relationship“, says the declaration. For this reason, “joint work will be carried out in order to define a cross-border strategy between the two countries”. The declaration also indicates that “Spain and France have resolved to initiate the necessary work for the signing of a Franco-Spanish bilateral cooperation treaty”, taking into account, the “numerous common interests” between the two countries and the desire to “reinforce, through greater coordination, their cooperation and convergence”.
Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated last week that one of the objectives of the Spanish-French summit was to promote a principle of cross-border cooperation similar to that which already exists with Portugal.
Specifically, during the XXXI Spanish-Portuguese Summit, held last October 10 in the Portuguese town of Guarda, the Vice President for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, and the Portuguese Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, presented the details of the Common Strategy for Cross-Border Development between Spain and Portugal, which establishes five strategic objectives: guarantee equal opportunities on both sides of the border, ensure the adequate provision of basic services by taking advantage of resources, facilitate cross-border interaction, encourage the development of new economic activities and business initiatives, and favor the fixation of population in cross-border areas especially affected by depopulation.
The Montauban summit declaration does not provide any details on future cross-border cooperation, although it does mention rail and electrical connections, cross-border cooperation on health and sanitation (in the context of the fight against COVID-19) and labor cooperation on cross-border employment. At the aforementioned press conference, Macron defended the implementation of “a global cross-border strategy” taking into account the “necessary symbiosis between the two sides of the Pyrenees”.
